The Latest Buzz: Journey's Beginning
by Dalekzilla54
Summary: Rebecca Harper once lived a perfectly normal life. But when a new, strange boy moves into her class, her life changes forever. May contain strongish violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

The Latest Buzz-Journey's Beginning

A latest buzz fanfic unlike any other!

All characters belong to___ and the BBC,Except for John Silas and Rico Kane.

Chapter 1: The new kid.

The school building was completely empty. It lay still and quiet in the afternoon atmosphere. Not even a fly hummed through the spacious corridors.  
It was after school hours and all the students had vacated. They had all gone home, pleased that the day of work was over. At this moment most of them would be at home, some of them doing their homework or proceeding to carry out various chores around the house, while others would be playing sports or lounging about playing with their nintendo wii. If not in the house, teenagers would be spread out across the city, mostly in groups of two or more. All the boys would be messing about downtown, buying junk food and stuffing their faces while spreading graffiti across the walls of the buildings that line the streets like dominoes. All the girls would be hanging around the mall, discussing fashion or makeup products. All these youthful faces have at least one thing in common; They're all oblivious to the surrounding world, too caught up in their own little activities and pleasures to note what could happen, what couldn't happen, and the downright bizarre.

Suddenly, one of the back doors of the school clicked open. It swung inwards with a long, sharp creak. Shortly afterwards, one of the students entered the building and closed the door behind her.  
She was wearing a bright pink jacket and dark blue jeans, matching with the pink beret she wore on her head. Streaming out from under this beret came long strands of light brown hair, which stopped at her petite shoulders.  
This was none other than Rebecca Harper, one of the writers of the school magazine. This was just an ordinary day for her. Just doing schoolwork, writing magazine articles, hanging out (and making out) with her boyfriend Noah, plus many other things a girl like her is expected to be doing. She didn't have the slightest idea that from that day, her very perception of life would change forever.

Rebecca proceeded to make her way through the school, heading towards the top floor. She strides through the corridors swiftly, feeling slightly claustrophobic with the surrounding corridors and their vast emptyness. She got the eerie feeling that she was the only soul wandering the corridors of the building, or was she?

CLANG!

"Jesus! What was that?" Rebecca wondered to herself after almost jumping out of her skin.

"No! No! No!" A distant voice can be heard shouting in the distance, "That one there! That one there!"

Gunshots followed, then a loud screeching sound echoed through the hallways.

Rebecca, not knowing what on earth is going on, but frightened as heck, instantly turned around and started to run, away from the loud noises.  
She pounded down the corridors, sreeching and shouting and banging sounds echoing everywhere. By now, Rebecca was so scared that she couldn't remember where she came from.

Rebecca continued to run, not knowing where to go or caring about why she was there in the first place. When suddenly, all the noises stopped.

Rebecca instantly stopped running and slowly looked around. The shouting, the screeching and the gunshots had all stopped simulteneously. In a split second! The whole corridors were as silent as they were when she first entered the building.

After surveying the area she had just stopped running in, Rebecca saw that she was in a hallway (obviously) that was lined with various doors, with one large metal door at the opposite end. That one door gave her an eerie chill, as if there was something terrifying beyond imagination behind it.  
Curiously, and at the same time stupidly, Rebecca slowly walked up the corridor, towards the door.

CLANG!

Another massive bang, this time so close that it could almost have been directly behind the door.

Rebecca jerked her hand back, so terrified that she could hear every heartbeat thumping in her ears.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Slowly and gingerly, Rebecca reached out towards the door handle and wrenched it open.  
What she saw behind it made her stomach drop and her eyes alost popped out of her head.

Turning towards her, away from a blinding light, was a beast of insane proportions.  
It was a dark grey colour, and it appeared to be crouching on all fours. But instead of hands, the creature had massive knife-like blade protuding from its wrists. It looked like it had a couple of meat cleavers fused to the ends of its arms. It also sported a buzz-saw on it's abdomen, lining the sternum.  
Its face was cooky looking, but nonetheless terrifying. A large chicken-like beak sprouted from it's face, with steel mandibles attached to the sides. Instead of beady little dots for eyes, it sported a large red visor, which glowed as it spied it's prey. And from it's back, sprouted three huge fins, which were shining as red as it's hideous eye.

The creature cocked it's head in Rebecca's direction, who jumped backwards, horrified beyond beleif at what she saw.  
It stared at her for a second with its large, red eye, then reared its head back, opened its beak and emitted a dreadful, bird-like, ear-piercing scream.

Rebecca screamed in reply, too frightened to move. The creature started to move slowly towards her, raising it's knife-blades to the attack. It cackled as it prepared to swing downwards and bring an end to its prey.

"Hello."

Somebody had appeared directly behind the beast, waving his arms wildly. A boy by the look of it. As Rebecca studied him, she could see that he was about her age. He had Longish hair, but all sitting on top of his head rather than flowing down his back. He also had a reasonable looking face. Not the hottest looking male in the world, but by Rebecca's standards, he did have a bit of a cute face. He had large, blue eyes, which were partially covered by a fringe of dark brown hair. He also had a fair, tan face that looked to be clean-shaven.  
He wore braces on his brilliantly white teeth. He appeared to be short, not much taller than Rebecca was, which was saying something because most boys she had met in her life she had to crane her neck to talk to. Micheal was the only boy she knew who was about her height. And this new kid comes a close second.

The boy tapped the bird-like montrosity on what passed as a shoulder and continued to wave his hands and trying to attract its attention.

"Oi! Over here!" He talked as if her were speaking to a disobediant child "Come on you, errr, big ugly monster chicken thingy. Behind you!"

Rebecca then noticed that the boy held a large slab of meat in his hand, which seemed to be attracting the creature's attention. The boy then looked up and noticed Rebecca for the first time.

"You might want to scarper." He said, motioning towards the far door with his free hand, then staring up at the beast again.

"Come on!" he cooed as if he were talking to a puppy, "Does ugly wugly big monster chicken want a bite of this tasy beefy weefy? I SAID RUN!!!" He suddenly shouted as he snapped his head back up in Rebecca's direction.

Then in an instant, another boy, about the same age as the first one, charged out of another door behind Rebecca. He wore sunglasses and a vest, as well as karate-style slacks. He also held a large shotgun in his hand. He bolted straight past the horrified and beweilded student while letting out a banshee scream. He then stopped running, lifted up the shotgun and shot the monster in the side. A small explosion rocked the monster, tearing open the skin and flesh on its hip.  
The creature screeched in pain as blood squirted out of the open wound, covering both boys in a black ooze, but continued to stand it's ground.

"Rico!" the first boy shouted at the second boy over the din, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"You said use the mortar bullets!" the second boy shouted back indignantly.

"I said don't use the mortar bullets!" the first boy replied.

The bird-like creature, apparantly having recovered from the attack, growled and raised its knife claws to the attack, its mandible's twitching in anger and its one eye flashing with hatred.

"Oh, crap! You agitated it!" the first boy shouted, "Run for it!"

Both of these strange boys then darted past Rebecca and into one of the many doors lined up in the corridors. The horrid creature flexed it's bladed-wrists and gave chase, now completely ignoring Rebecca who was just standing there with her eyes wide open, completely frightened and confused.  
The boy with the meat and the kid with the shotgun closed the door behind them, but to Rebecca's shock and amazement, the beast just knocked it down with a swing of its claw and stepped inside.

Then, in the thirty seconds that followed, the whole scene turned into a Scooby Doo parody.  
The demonic creature was chasing the two boys through every single door in the hallway, crisscrossing the corridor like crazy. The monster darted from one door to the next, only to pass the shotgun boy who was headed in the opposite direction. It didn't notice this because it was chasing the meat boy into another door. The chase continued in this fashion, with the beast occasionally swapping victims.  
About thirty seconds later, as it was chasing the shotgun kid into another door for the billionth time, it stopped dead in its tracks for an instant, turned and started to run in the opposite direction. The shotgun kid followed close behind, spraying bullets from his mighty weapon as he ran.

"Ha, ha! Got the right bullets this time, buster!" he cried as he pursured the creature into another door.

The first boy, the one with the steak, darted after both of them and slammed the door shut behind him. And then, all was silent, just like it had before.

Rebecca stood in the same spot she was when she first opened the metal door. Out of breath and completely shocked at what she had just seen.

"What the heck just happened?" she whispered to herself.

She then looked up with fear as she noticed the same door creaking open slowly. She tensed herself for the worst, expecting the monster emerging with two dead bodies impaled on its claws.

But to her surprise, it was the steak boy.

He slowly opened the door so it lay completely to the wall. He timidly stepped out into the middle of the hallway, with the chunk of meat still hanging from his grubby fingers. All the while he was staring at her. Not taking his eyes off her for a second. Rebecca could tell he was studying her face, she figured this since there was a look of curiosity on his facial features, but at the same time confusion.

For a few seconds, he remained in the centre of the hall, standing paralell to Rebecca, staring deep into her eyes and not saying a word. Then he spoke.

"I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I?"

That moment had instantaneously become all too much for poor Rebecca. As soon as she heard those words come from his lips, she ran out the door from where she came and didn't look back. She continued to run out of school building and down the street and didn't stop until she was in the safety and comfort of her bedroom.

As she lay on her bed, staring up at the celing, she thought hard about what had happened in the past fifteen minutes. Was all that a dream? Or a hallutination maybe? There was no plausible explanation for what she had just witnessed. Not only had she found a hideous monster in her own school being subdued by a weird kid with a steak and another weird kid with firearms, but one of them thinks that he's seen her before!

Rebecca rolled over and stared at the framed photograph she kept of her friends on her bedside table. In the picture, she was standing on the far left, holding a notebook and a pen, giving a sweet, toothy smile. Noah was standing right behind her, with a hand on her shoulder.

"Those were the days," she thought to herself as she gazed at her captured memories, "Back when everything was simple."

What she had witnessed a short while ago had swiftly changed Rebecca's perception of reality. Is it possible that a giant monster had really broken into the school? Is it also possible that there are teens that were barely older that she was who handled heavy weapons and probably dealt with this sort of thing on a regular basis? Whatever the answers were, the questions had scared Rebecca right out of her skin. She wished that she had Noah with her right at that moment. Just to hold her and tell her that everything would be alright.

Eventually, Rebecca decided that the event was just an illusion. She was a smart girl, and she knew that such a thing was impossible. She also decided not to tell anybody about it, just in case they would think that she was crazy. Not Micheal, Noah, Amanda, DJ or anybody else that she trusted.

"It's probably just some dorks playing a trick, anyway." she calmly told herself as she got up from her bed and started to go downstair, for her dad had just called her for dinner.

But little did she know, the frightenly bizarre event that just happened was just a prelude to what was to come. And not just Rebecca would be involved, the whole Team Buzz team would witness an event a thousand times greater. And from then, nothing would ever be the same again.

Gigan, rise!!!!

I knew that tuna head wasn't up to much. 


	2. Chapter 2

The Latest Buzz-Journey's Beginning

I Apologise for the cock-up with the disclaimer in the previous chapter. What I meant to say was that the Latest Buzz characters belong to whatever company they orinated from, with any other characters (I'm not going to say who) belonging to the BBC. With the exception of John Silas and Rico Kane, who are my own creations.

I don't know how often I'll be updating with this, for anyone who may be interested. I have lots of other things on my to-do list. I have exams coming up in a few weeks, as well as Italian homework and Kung-Fu practice. I'm also paralleling this story with my "Darth Vader vs. Godzilla" story. Feel free to check that out if you're interested. On top of that, I also have to do plenty of research to do on the show which is pretty difficult to do since The Latest Buzz is only on once a week. I live in Australia so I'm only able to catch it on Sunday mornings at 7:30 on ABC. The reception on my telly isn't that well either.

But enough of this, let's get on with the story.

Chapter 2: Day One

The bell echoed across the hallways like a forgotten beast screaming into the night. Students who were spread all throughout the building complex groaned in frustration and boredom as they packed up their lunch properties and started to lumber slowly towards their respective classrooms to endure through yet another class in their long and tedious day. Most of them wanting to get back to their breif freedom outside of school.

Within a few minutes the classrooms were packed full of teenagers jostling to get a seat. Some near their best buddies. Others near their boyfriend or girlfriend or simply whoever they fancy. The more nerdy bookwormish types preferred to sit close to the front, while the self-proclaimed cooler kids sat towards the back. By the time everyone had sat down, the second bell rang across the grounds, signalling the beginning of the next period and leaving any latecomers to the detention room.

It had been about two weeks since Rebecca had her encounter with that horrible creature and those two weird boys. Since that day, she hadn't spoken a word of it to anyone and she had promised to herself that it wasn't real and it was probably just some hallutionation derived from her exhausted mind due to stress.

"I have been working on that global alert article a bit hard lately" Rebecca thought to herself as she proceeded to take her seat.

But despite her reassurance, she was still questioning her perception of reality. For the past two weeks, Rebecca had felt confused, disorientated and paranoid. She was also curious about the whole scenario. If it had happened, how did the creature get there? What was its purpose? And just who were those strange boys anyway? Rebecca had never seen them before in her life, but one of them seemed to recognise her. That was the question she wanted to ask the most. Who was the strange boy with the dripping steak and how did he know her?

Her peculiar behaviour hadn't gone unnoticed by her fellow journalists and closest friends. The whole time Rebecca was trying to get over the strange event a fortnight ago, while the rest of Team Buzz were getting concerned. Even Wilder spared a thought or two while briefly glancing up from his PSP. Of course, she denied anything was wrong, not wanting to upset anyone else. But despite this, her friends still had their doubts and were still worried about her.

"Hey, R!" Noah exclaimed, smiling as he greeted his shall we say 'special friend' (wink, wink), "How ya doin?"

"Oh, I'm doing alright." Rebecca replied, returning the smile. "Just the same old stuff. Being bored out of my brain."

"I know what you mean." Noah shot back, "These classes are a constant drag. Sometimes I'd much rather eat out a buffalo's asscrack than sit through another one of these."

"Oh, come on Noah. Don't exaggerate." Micheal mumbled over his shoulder while rolling his eyes.

In that instant, a smile spead over Noah's weird looking face.

"Oh! That reminds me of something hilarious I heard the other day." he babbled as he prepared to launch into another one of his stupid one-liners, "Alright, alright, pay attention to me. Ahem. "I told you a million times, do not exaggerate!"" He chuckled at what may have been the dumbest thing he had ever said, and that's saying something!

Rebecca and Micheal just looked at each other, shrugged and turned towards the front of the room where Mr Shepherd, the teacher of Media studies, sat down at his desk to begin the lesson.

"Alright everyone, quiet down." Mr Shepherd called out as he tried to maintain order in the classroom, but not quite succeeding. "Vanessa, stop flirting with Zac over there. I know you like each other but please don't do that while I'm around. It's making me nauseous." He ducked as a paper plane nearly speared him in the eye. "Courtney! Stop doing that! You nearly got yourself expelled last time!"

A tall, blonde girl at the back poked her tounge out at him, but put the scrap paper away.

Eventually, the whole class stopped messing about like a group of monkeys in a cantina and settled down into their seats.

"Alright. Now that we have finally settled down," Mr Shepherd continued, "We can mark the attendence roll and get on with things."

He got out the list of students in his class and started to call out of the names.

"Glen Baxter." He called across the room like a bellow.

"Yeah." drawled a short fat blonde boy next to the window.

"Gemma Belkin." Mr Shepherd continued, and so on in that fashion.

"Nicci Boroston. Jedd Briggs. Adrian Catflap. Jennifer Cooper. Micheal Davies. Hans Geering. Doug Gordon. Rebecca Harper. Sam Henshall. James Hitlus. Noah Jackson. Raymond Martin. Jake Mcgregor. Amanda Pierce. Lisa Richardson. Widler."

He barely managed to drag himself through the last student on the list, the stress of being a teacher already getting the better him. And the class had just barely started! He clearly had a long road to travel.

Mr Shepherd was clearly not in his normal mood today. His usual friendly and playful manner was flaked out by this emotion that seemed to be brand new to him; stress. He too had noticed Rebecca's strange behaviour over the past few weeks and it was starting to worry him. She was one of his top students. She never handed in homework overdue and always proceeded to do her schoolwork, no matter how ludicrous it may be, with a smile on her face. He particularly liked how she was always in a friendly and cheerful mood which seemed to lighten up the whole classroom. But recently, she was just acting strange. As if something was bothering her.

He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he realised what he was meant to be doing.

"Okay, class." Mr Shepherd tried to call to his students, "Before we begin this morning, I'd like to announce that a school dance will be held in a few weeks to help raise money for the school magazine which is running low on funds. It will be a fairly formal event, so try to bring a partner if you can."

Noah looked over at Rebecca and winked in her direction. Rebecca caught wind of this and returned it with a smile and a slight nod.

"On top of all this," Mr Shepherd continued, "We will be accompanied by some new students."

Wilder stared excitedly at Amanda and Micheal, who stared back in turn.

"New students?" Micheal asked in confusion, "Since when do we get new students in a place like this?"

"I wonder what they'll be like?" Rebecca wondered, overhearing the question.

"I hope they're totally cute! I can give them a complete makeover and teach them everything that's glamourous!" Amanda squealed, getting excited as she usually did when she launched into that topic.

"With you here we don't need anyone else in the fashion industry." Noah teased.

As he was saying this, Rebecca turned towards the front of the classroom, waiting in anticipation for who might be joining their class.

But who she saw again made her jaw drop.

Stepping inside the classroom door, smiling politely at the class, was the boy with the steak she had seen weeks earlier.

Directly behind him was the other boy with the shotgun, only this time both of them were empty handed.

How can this be? This completely defies any logic that Rebecca was trying to convince herself of for the past two weeks. After all that self-therapy, self-assurance and even some meditation (well, more or less some hardcore snogging with Noah just to take her mind of it), and the very thing that she just erased from her perception of reality just walks right in and waves at her.

Rebecca stared at both of the boys, particularly at the one who claimed to know her, in more confusion than before. Neither of them seemed to be carrying anything this time, which was good. The one with the steak had clean, smooth hands, which were clasped together nervously as he gazed at everyone in the room nodded a silent hello.

She also noticed, behind the two boys at the front, another two were coming in behind them that she's never seen before. One of them was tall and skinny, a lot taller and skinnier than Noah, and that was definately saying something. He also sported messy blonde hair and he slumped into the room with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. The other boy had a moderate build and had a similar face to the steak boy, as if they were related. He was also looking across the room at the sudents like the steak boy, but with awe and curiosity rather than uncertainty.

"Hey R, you okay?" Noah asked, suddenly interrupting Rebecca's thoughts as he leaned over towards her, "You've got your mouth wide open."

"Oh, right. Sorry." she stuttered as she broke out of her trance, "Just shocked to see four new classmates. Four's a bit excessive, doncha think?"

"Heck, yeah." Noah replied, smiling, "Two's company, three's a crowd and four's a frickin ocean."

"Alright, quiet down please!" Mr Shepherd shouted, still trying to get his class's attention, "I'd like to introduce the newest members of this school community. If you'd all like to introduce yourselves, then we could get on with our lesson."

The steak boy slowly crept forward and cleared his throat.

"Um, hello." he said in a shy voice with a slight australian accent, "My name is John Silas. I'm obviously new here, along with these other peeps."

The other boys waved, nodded and smiled in their own fashion.

"G'day. I'm Rico Kaine. Don't wear it out." The shotgun kid said with a wicked look in his eye, "But youse all can call me 'Rick Thecoolperson', 'Cause I'm a whole lot more badass than any of these dorks."

"Yes, well, that's all very pleasant." the kid called "John" stammered nervously, still putting on a brave smile.

The tall, blonde boy stepped forward.

"Um, hi. I'm Jack. Jack Bonney. I used to perform in a band called 'Living Nightmare'. You might have heard of it if you..."

He was interrupted by a sharp slap in the head from the boy called "Rico".

"Shut up, Bondogs!" he whispered harshly, "You remembered what I said?"

While he was doing this, the fourth boy stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Hey! How ya doin? The name's Tim. Tim Silas. And before you ask, yes. I am John's cousin. Although it may be a little hard to believe."

There was a lot of whispering in amongst the class as John, the steak boy, prepared to finish the rest of his intro.

"Yes. Well. In case you, um, haven't realised this yet, we're actually all together. We've known each other since we were in kindergarten. We also come from Melbourne which is towards the bottom of Australia. It's nowhere near Sydney in case you're wondering. We moved to Canada because all of our parents work in the same business. All of our dads work at an organisation called Wallara, which is an institute that assists the disabled with living normal lives. The franchise only just moved to North America and naturally, we followed him. We hope that we will settle in greatly and that you will all accept us as your friends."

"Yeah, but more me than him." Rico said while nudging Jack.

"Okay, then." Mr Shepherd cut in, "It's great having you all introduce yourselves, but if you don't mind I'd like to get the rest of the class going. I think I see a few empty desks over there if you'd like to sit down."

As his teacher was saying this, Noah leaned in close to Rebecca so she could hear him whispering.

"Boy, what a bunch of losers!" he whispered.

"I dunno." Amanda joined in as she leaned in on Rebecca's opposite side, "That Rico kid's kinda hot."

Wilder and Micheal glanced at Amanda with slight uncertainty in their eyes.

Rebecca then noticed that the kid called John was staring at her, but as soon as she noticed this he quickly glanced away.

He still thinks he recognises me, she thought as those dreadful memories came floating back. How on earth could this be possible? She just didn't understand it. Has he really seen her before? Another awful thought hit her. What if he was stalking her? He seemed strange enough to be one. That monster may just have been a hoax just so he could see her closer. What can she do in that situation again? She remembers having a lesson on it in psychology a while back but she had been pretty tired and couldn't focus properly. I think you have to tell someone you trust about it....

"Noah," Rebecca whispered as the newcomers John, Rico, Jack and Tim took their places on the opposite sides of the room, "There's something I feel I have to tell you."

"I'm listening." Noah whispered back as he leaned closer.

"Well, that turned out okay." Jack whispered to Tim, John and Rico as they took their seats and the class began.

"What do you mean, okay?" Tim whispered back, Rico sucked up most of the glory as he usually does!"

"Hey, don't blame me if I'm kinda hot." Rico retorted, "Besides, I think that Pierce girl towards the front fancies me. And what about Johnny Boy? He didn't put up much of an intro. He set the geeky image, which is not what first impressions are meant to be. He's starting to act like Rebecca over there!"

"Shhhhh!" John hissed, "If we want to do this thing here we must pretend we don't know anybody! And that includes names, personalities, interests, relationships and gender. We're supposed to be complete strangers, not bosom buddies. And remember what I said; Don't expect to befriend any of the major team buzz players while we're here. We've got a job to do, got that?"

Rico, Tim and Jack nodded and proceeded to take their seats.

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There! Chapter two is finally done! A few notes before I go:

Sorry this took so long! Like I said, school and stuff get in the way a lot, and I rarely have a good opportunity to work on this. I hope future chapters will be released sooner.

I'm not completely sure if I have all the info right. Like I said before, my research is limited. I ain't completely sure if the latest buzz is actually set in canada. If i get this wrong, please tell me so I can correct any mistakes.

And finally, despite what you may believe, John and his friends are not, i repeat, NOT the villains. John's dialouge changes rapidly to show there is more to him than meets the eye.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

The Latest Buzz-Journey's Beginning

All Characters (other than John Silas, Rico Kaine, Jack Bonney and Tim Silas) belong to the Family Coporation, or whatever produces the show.

Again, sorry if I took too long with writing this next chapter. Same excuses as last time. Other than writer's block, I have endless homework and Kung Fu and tons of other stuff that get in the way.  
Also, please note that the teens rating should start to apply from now, since the language levels start to elevate in this chapter. I repeat: RECOMMENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY!  
Happy reading!

Chapter 3: Just Getting to Know You

"Well, that class wasn't too bad." Tim said with great relief as he opened his locker and started shovelling his books onto the top shelf, "Day one is now over and now everyone can start getting to know us."

"Yeah, it is a relief that we got through our first couple of classes alright." John replied as he pulled his school bag out from the bottom of his locker "But don't forget what I told you...."

"Yeah, Yeah, don't remind me." his cousin groaned with the air of an impatient child, "'Don't expect to befriend any of the mainstream characters.' Jeez, you can be such a nag sometimes. I'm not retarded, you know."

"Tell me about it." Rico mumbled besides him, "You wouldn't stop staring at me to make sure I wouldn't tip Amanda the wink. You know how it is with me and girls. If they show a slight interest, then I'm away. I'm like an aussie version of James Bond or that guy from Grease."

"Or an aussie version of Jabba the Hutt." Jack chucked from the other side of Tim.

Rico scrunched up his face at the thought, then flipped Jack the finger and proceeded to prepare his things for the trip home. Jack mimed putting his hand over his mouth and opened widened his eyes in shock, then continued to re-organise the homework he was given.

It was the final bell, and everyone was preparing for the long trip home. Many of them were well-relieved to have the day of mental labour finally over, and were looking forward to engaging in their usual after-school routines. Some going off to play basketball or hockey, others joining in with band paractice, and the rest participating with various activities such as loitering in shopping malls, taking others on dates, or simply blanking out in their living rooms. The whole corridor, if not every corridor in the school was stuffed to the brim with students rushing to their lockers to grab their bags, books, homework and whatever necessities they required for that evening. You couldn't see half a meter in front of you without staring at a fellow student's backside, which would make it uncomfortable for both parties.

"Well, sorry if I'm being a bit of a downer, but I can't let anything go wrong with this." John continued, "You know how important it is that we fulfil our business properly given the circumstances. One of youse may get injured in a fight and the plan may not go ahead since each of you play a major part in this."

"Yeah, but why won't you let us talk to anyone?" Jack asked.

"I never said that you should avoid them." John retaliated, zipping up his school bag, "I just said don't expect to become best mates with anyone major. You can chat to them all you like, but don't expect them to chat back, that's all. They are regular, working-class people, after all. Also, you may be altering the plotline in a major way, and that may have a negative affect on the continuim."

(note: if they sound like they're talking like crazy, don't worry. It'll all become clear in chapters to come.)

"Okay, okay. Jeez." Jack responded. He looked over John's shoulder and noticed somebody coming from the other side of the corridor. "Oh, bugger. John, look out! Jackson at three o'clock!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" John asked his companion, before turning around and seeing who was approaching him.

Noah Jackson swiftly strode through the crowd with the air of somebody who had business to deal with. A look of annoyance was spread across his face, with determination in his eyes. Rebecca followed closely behind, nervously peeking out at John and his gang.  
John carefully watched Noah as he continued to make his way through the crowd until he stopped directly in front of him, only a few inches seperating them.  
For a few moments, they just stood there staring at each other, staring into each others eyes and daring each other to make the first move. Noah looking annoyed and pissed off, John completely emotionless.

Rebecca was amazed with what she saw. Noah towered over John, as she had predicted. John was reletively short for a boy of his age, which was surprising because most boys she knew of that age were considerably taller. As she had thought before, John was not much taller than she was, making him one of the few boys she could actually look in the eye without craining her neck. Next to Noah, it was like comparing a turtle with a giraffe.  
But on further examination, she noticed something different about John. He was fairly shorter than Noah, but John seemed to be the more dominant and intimidating when the two were next to each other. John was gazing upwards to meet Noah's stare, but the way he did it gave him the air of someone who had power. He seemed to be without any fear evident in his face or eyes, even though he was looking at someone who at first glance looked like he could pound into the floor easily.

An eternity seemed to pass in all but a second as the two stared each other up. The air around them became icy cold, as if something nasty may happen.

"John Silas, is it?" Noah started icily, not removing his stare from John's.

"Yep. That's me, mate." John replied, also not removing his stare, but doing it in a friendly, playful way with a slight smile on his face.

Rico, Jack and Tim were all behind John, watching the conversation with almost as much uncertainty as Rebecca.

"Rebecca told me about what you have been doing." Noah continued, with a hint of venom in his voice.

"Wha-Sorry?" John asked, now looking confused.

"Rebecca." replied Noah, putting a hand on Rebecca's shoulder. John glanced over at her for a second, then shifted his gaze back to Noah.

"Yeah. Okay. So, what have I been doing exactly?" said John, still acting confused.

"Just stay away from her, okay? She's my girl. D'you hear?" Noah spat, with more venom in his voice than before. "Take your preachy stalking business elsewhere."

John continued to stare at Noah's annoyed features for a few moments, before he broke out into a grin and gave a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry. There's been a misunderstanding." he said, with a surprisingly sunny tone, "You're probably thinking I've been staring at your gal in a funny way. It's just that I thought she looked familiar, that's all. I thought I saw her somewhere else and I spend the next hour just to put the pieces together and figure it all out. Seriously, it's not what you thought it was. I'm not sexually attracted to her at all. Sorry if I've caused any distress"

He glanced over at Rebecca and smiled to show that he meant no harm.

Noah still looked uncertain.

"Okay. Well, just leave us alone, Skippy." he said in a severe manner.

"Don't worry about it. I'll respect your privacy as human beings." John replied cheerfully.

Noah and Rebecca slowly moved away and paced to their own lockers, which was about ten meters from where John's was. As soon as they left, John turned towards Tim, Jack and Rico.

"Do you see what I mean?" he whispered, "I haven't even done anything and already I've probably made enemies with the two most popular players."

"Wasn't the girl that Noah was with the witness to the attack you and Rico took care of a few weeks ago?" Tim asked.

"What, Rebecca?" John replied, "Yeah she was. And now she's probably too scared to approach us now."

"Hmmmm, I wonder if that Wilder kid is game enough for guys like us." Rico started to ponder aloud. He looked up and saw a crowd gather a few meters down the corridor. "Hey, what's going on over there?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you for doing that for me." said Rebecca as she opened her own locker.

"Hey. It's no problem." Noah replied, smiling, "Anything just to put those new kids in their place. Was that what's bothering you?"

"Yeah." Rebecca smiled back, instantly cheering up, "But you know me. Always the odd one being the odd one scared for some of the stupid reasons."

"So, are you going to that dance that Shepherd was yapping on about in class?" asked Noah, grabbing leftover food items from his bag and stuffing them in his pockets. Maybe Wilder can finish that for me, he thought.

"Probably." Rebecca answered, piling an excessive amount of books into her bag "I can wear that new dress that Bobba (is that how you spell it?) gave me for my last birthday."

"So, chances are it won't look like crap on you." Noah replied, swiftly looking her over before zipping up his own bag and swinging it onto his back, "You need a partner?"

"I dunno. Mine left for England a while ago so you'll have to do instead! See ya!"

Rebecca giggled at her own joke, turned and happily strutted away. Noah grimaced at that painful memory and slid his lock into place on his locker door. As he did so he had a small thought moment of his own.

Who is this Silas person? And who does he think he is stalking my R like that? Just because he struts in from the other side of the globe with his gang of crocodile dundees he thinks he can do whatever he likes! Well, he did say that he wasn't really interested in her, but I still don't trust him. I sense something about him that just doesn't seem right, like disaster may strike with his prescence. I dunno. I guess he just has this atmosphere around him.

Noah's thoughts were interrupted by a large, black, looming shadow that fell over him like the darkness of night overpowering the daylight.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the funny guy." a deep voice echoed out of nowhere.

Noah suddenly felt a giant's hand closing around his shoulder. A massive jolt forced him to his feet.  
He swiftly turned around to see who had grapped him.

It was Brad. A bully by every meaning of the word. He sneered as he gripped his prey firmly on the shoulder and shot an icy glare into Noah's eyes.

Brad was the biggest and baddest boy at Ernie Coombs High. He had a reputation practically unmatched by any other bully in the country, he's that bad. He had an enormous build with bulging muscles that would make people like Arnold Swartzeneggar and Chuck Norris flinch. He was like a massive figure of rock and stone. His forearm alone looked like it belonged to a professional body builder.  
Brad had no friends or gang to associate himself with, partially because no-one would want to come near him. This doesn't bother him at all, though. He gets all his pleasures from torturing and tormenting anyone weaker than him, and that was pretty much everyone else in the school. Not even the teachers would dare to defy him. In conclusion, Brad was one guy not to be messed with.

In particular, there was no-one that Brad liked to hassle, assult and attack more than Noah Jackson. He had made a regular routine of bullying Noah and has made quite a large habit out of it. He hasn't stopped hassling him ever since the anti-bullying "Stand-up" campaign a few months before. During the music video that was produced by both Noah and Amanda, Noah offered his advice on trying to use comedy when facing people like Brad. He had never let him forget about this since.

Noah was still thinking about this as he stared into Brad's ugly sneering face, regretting he'd ever made that damn video.

Maybe comedy isn't the solution to everything, he thought as he prepared himself for yet another assult.

"Hey, funny guy!" Brad spat into his face, "That's a stupid shirt you got on there! What do ya say to that!?"

Noah slowly looked around him, surveying his predicament. A large crowd had formed around them, all watching and waiting just to see what would happen next. Most of them had a look of sympathy and fear on their faces, while an odd couple were grinning with anticipation, waiting for a fight to break out. Rebecca was among them, looking the most concerned and frightened out of anyone else.

Noah glanced back at his attacker, who was just waiting for a reply.

I've got to be brave. I don't wanna look like a coward in front of R. He thought as he racked his brain for a witty comeback.

"I-I-I.......know?" he stammered weakly.

Brad allowed a huge, shit-eating grin to spread across his face.

"Well, let's see how much you know when I wedgie your balls off you douche!" he spat as he readied his free hand.

Noah braced himself for oblivion, but not before noticing someone behind Brad reach up and lightly touch him on the shoulder.

Brad swiftly spun around, irritated that his tormenting was interrupted.

"What is it!?" he snarled with concentrated venom.

CRACK!

John Silas punched Brad full on in the face with enough force to break down a brick wall. Brad stumbled back in surprise, letting Noah slip from his fingers in the process. Noah fell to the ground, completely shocked at what he was seeing. Rebecca instantly rushed over to her boyfriend's side and grabbed him by the hand.

John calmly dropped his clenched fist to his side and swiftly strode over to where Brad had stumbled. Brad, having recovered from this assult, clenched his teeth in fury and swung his arm at John's head.

John ducked beneath the speeding muscular forearm quicker than lightning, bending his knees in order to gain momentum. He then launched himself back upwards, taking advantage of the speed the strong push provided to smack Brad in the face a second time, even harder than before.

The bully flew a good two meters before striking his head against one of the many lockers lining the corridor. Brad took a few seconds to recover before getting up, but before he did John was already right next to him. John reached down and grabbed Brad by the throat, not hard enough to choke him, but hard enough to get a firm grip so he couldn't get away.  
With a big tug, John single-handedly lifted Brad high against the wall, pinning him down by his broad throat. Noah was shocked to see that his feet weren't even touching the floor.  
Brad glared at John with pure anger, fury and rage as he clutched at his neck, but not even getting close to prising John's fingers off of him. John stared right back at him with a look of direct determination. A slight frown tugging at his face, but his eyes were colder and darker than before, locked in direct contact with Brad's, as if he was staring straight into his soul.

Rebecca instantly felt the same prescence she had felt only minutes earlier, only this time it was a whole lot stronger. Fire and ice seemed to surge from John's core as he gripped Brad firmly around the throat. Rebecca almost saw a dark aura creeping up his being like flames creeping up a dying tree. He was like he was from another world. Rebecca felt so distanced from this person, yet strangely enough there was something familiar, almost nostalgic about him. Almost like she had known someone like him all her life.

"Why do you do all this, huh?" John hissed, his accent all but gone.

"Because it's fun, jackass." Brad retorted.

He then thrust his head forward and spat onto John's face. Everyone gasped, including Noah.

John calmly reached up with his free hand and slowly wiped the offending saliva from his cheek. Brad sneered, pleased with what he had dared to have done. His expression instantly changed when he saw what had happened next.

John slowly slid his hand into a long, black bag which was slung loosely across his back. He grabbed hold of a potruding handle encased in black leather and slowly pulled out the instrument that it was attatched to. You could practically hear the jaws of everyone in the hallway all dropping in unison at what they saw.

The long, sharp blade of the massive broadsword John pulled from his bag glinted in the light like a child's eye gleaming into the new world as the deadly weapon was lifted parallel to Brad's throat. Brad didn't dare open his mouth after that.

"Okay, listen to me very carefully. I shall say this only once," John growled, firmly gripping the sword handle with one hand and Brad's throat with the other, "This Noah Jackson person is a pretty good guy, and his friends too. You have no right to bully them like that. It's people like you that stop others from reaching their full potential in this realm and age. If I see you coming after Noah, Michael, Wilder or anyone else, I will come down onto you so badly, you will never know what hit you. If I see you even look at them in a funny way you will wake up in the middle of a mental asylum, very confused, and with half of your memory lost to oblivion. Ya got that?"

Brad stared into John's eternal face for a few seconds, then slowly nodded his head.

"Good. I'm glad we had this conversation." John smiled slightly.

He slowly slid his sword back into the sheath on his back. He then glanced at Noah and Rebecca, who were still on the floor a few meters away. He gave both of them a slight grin and winked before turning his attention back to Brad.

With a great swing of his arm, John threw Brad a good five meters, still with the one hand. The bully slid across the floor another two meters before banging his head on the lockers on the other side of the hallway. Everyone who had gathered around them all stared at Brad while he collected himself.  
He slowly rose to his feet, not taking his eyes of John for a second. All of a sudden, he didn't seem quite as large and dominating as he did only a few minutes before. He glared at John for a moment, partly out of anger, but mostly out of fear. He then turned and ran away as fast as he could.

John watched Brad flee, not changing the expression on his face. He slowly turned his head around and saw that everyone was staring at him. Among the large crowd he spotted Michael, Wilder and Amanda, as well as Rebecca and Noah who were only now just rising to their feet. They were all staring at him in bewilderment.

He slowly walked up to Noah, his facial features spreading into a more friendly vision.

"Don't worry, mate." he said, his Australian accent now returning, "He won't be bothering you anymore. I know bullies. There is no way he would dare to mess with you now."

Noah said nothing, as did Rebecca. John gave a slight nod before turning around to face his companions, Rico, Jack and Tim.

"Alright guys, let's go." he said.

He walked briskly down the hall, slinging both his schoolbag and his sword sheath across each shoulder. Jack, Tim and Rico followed in tow, each one with a different expression on his face. Jack's face looked confused and slightly frightened at what just happened, Tim looked mildly amused, as if he'd seen events like this on a regular basis, Rico had a wicked grin on his face, as if he relished confrontations such as these.

A massive cheer erupted from the crowd that had witnessed the spectacle like a volcano. They were obviously relieved that at long last, somebody had the guts to finally stand up to the likes of Brad. The uproar lasted for a good thirty seconds, tributing John's departure, before everyone continued to prepare themselves for their long trip home.

"What the heck just happened?" Noah gasped, finally finding his voice and struggling to his feet.

"I don't know." Rebecca quickly mumbled as she stared in the direction where John just left, "Hang on, I'll be right back."

Rebecca then darted down the hallway and out of the door, pursuing John and his gang. Noah stared after her for a brief moment with his mouth wide open before giving a quick shrug and chased after her.

Rebecca Harper burst out of the school building and into the busy street, frantically scanning for any sign of John. She knew there was something up with him. If he wasn't a stalker, then what the hell was he? She just had to find out the truth about this enigma.  
She spotted the group of four making their way down the street. Sprinting after them as fast as she could, Rebecca saw them suddenly round a corner and disappear down an alleyway.  
Realizing that she had them trapped, Rebecca lunged towards the narrow gap between the buildings. She could feel a painful stitch of exhaustion starting to spread in her chest (she isn't exactly the most athletic girl in her gym class), but she was determined to discover the truth.

Rebecca rounded the corner and spilled into the alleyway, and gasped at what she saw....

....absolutely nothing.

Where John and his friends had been only moments before, Rebecca found nothing but an empty alleyway. There was absolutely no evidence of them ever being there, not even any scorch marks in case they were randomly vaporised.  
For the next few seconds, Rebecca searched the alley for a slight sign of where they went, but to no avail. They had simply disappeared into thin air.

Rebecca finally gave up and slowly shuffled into the centre of the gap between the two buildings. She could hear Noah's pounding footsteps and his breath rasping with exhaustion getting closer and closer. And second he would be right next to her and they could be together, to protect each other from the increasingly bizarre world.

Rebecca glanced upwards, as if she could sense John and Rico miles above her, but at the same time their essence being everywhere and nowhere.

"Oh dear." she mumbled to herself.

And that's all for now! Next time, Rebecca finds out more info on John as the newcomers settle down into "the latest rut" as I call it.  
One last thing, thank you for everyone who has favourited this story. It's great to know people are enjoying this stuff.  
Plz review!  
Peace out! 


	4. Chapter 4

The Latest Buzz - Journey's Beginning

All characters belong to Family corporation and yadda yadda (Except for John, Rico, Jack and Tim obviously)

Chapter 4-Settling in

Team Buzz Magazine; the modern, hip, self proclaimed "cool" magazine aimed specifically at teens. The magazine that offers nothing but the best on celebrity gossip, music, fashion, gaming, outlooks on life and more. The magazine that is highly sought after by many teenagers in the area, if not the world. Many Teen Buzz work stations were positioned around the globe, in places such as Sydney, London, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Denpasar, Shanghai, Berlin, Osaka and even Antarctica. But the core of this production lies in a particular Canadian high school known as Ernie Coombs High. It is here that the best articles are written, everlasting friendships are made, and........the best articles are written.

It was the final period of the day. The Team Buzz Headquarters were open and many of its journalists were hard at work writing articles for the next issue of their popular magazine. Rebecca, Michael, Amanda, Noah and Wilder were all sitting at their respective desks, all writing their respective articles. Everybody was working unusually hard this afternoon, so hard that nobody spoke a word. Not even Wilder glanced over at Gleebook, Gleetube, Gleepedia, Gleespace, Gleeviantart, Gleegle or . DJ, the executive producer of the company, was interviewing somebody in her office and Mr Shepherd was wandering about the workstation looking for his copy of the DVD "Bottom" (he was going to use it for his media studies class on British alternative comedy).

Rebecca hadn't seen any sign of John or his friends since the incident with Brad the afternoon before, but that didn't stop her from continuing with her work. She had been keen on journalism for most of her life. Even as a young child she was collecting various pieces of information she had seen on the news. She had worked with the school newsletter "The Blabber" while she was still in elementary school, and many of her classmates had labeled her as a nerd as a result. Even Michael had doubts at times when Rebecca was caught up in her work. When she (as well as Michael) was accepted as a reporter for the famous Team Buzz Magazine, she was absolutely rapt. Since starting year seven she was a regular subscriber, and to this day she still has every issue from then stacked in her "Buzz Cupboard". To sum it all up, it was her passion, her dream, her life, to be a journalist.

"Hey! R!" Noah suddenly whispered, breaking the silence.

Rebecca glanced upwards to meet his gaze, relieved to have a brief rest from the severe case of writer's cramp that was spreading in her wrists.

"What do ya think was up with John the other day?" asked Noah with a hint of urgency in his voice.

"I dunno." Rebecca returned the whisper with one of her own, "What he did yesterday was slightly unusual, don't you think?"

"Slightly unusual? He kicked Brad's ass without breaking a sweat!" Michael exclaimed, joining in on the conversation.

"He must have been bodybuilding for all his life to get that physiche!" Amanda squealed quietly, "OMG, he is so strong!"

"It must be the aliens!" Wilder leaned in so he could be heard by his friends, "I knew it, they have come disguised as humans so as not to alarm us. They are here to make contact and start a whole new galactic federation!" he raised his voice, getting excited, "This is so fucking AWESTRUCK! It's finally happened!"

"Wilder! Language!" Mr Shepherd suddenly popped his head from behind Michael's desk, with a triple box-set of DVDs in one hand. He waved it around a bit, too excited to have found what he was looking for to be too angry at Wilder's vulgar outburst. He then put on a fake British accent "Or I'll bloody give you a right round kick in the sodding bollocks!"

He grinned and scurried out of the room, via the elevator. Wilder, Rebecca, Amanda, Noah and Michael stared at him, but then turned their attention back on each other.

"What about that sword he had?" Michael continued, trembling as he brought up the topic, "Is that legal 'round here?"

"I don't think so." Noah replied, "But yeah, what was up with that? Did he just pick that up in some aussie store before dropping in?"

"I dunno." Rebecca whispered "But there's something else about him that bothers me."

"But R, didn't we sort that out yesterday?" asked Noah, confusion setting in as the other three stared on.

"No, it's not like that." replied Rebecca, "It's his poise or something like that. I've never seen him or any of his friends before yesterday," she crossed her fingers behind her back as she said this, "But it's almost as if I can sense something familiar about him. When he was saving you from Brad the other day, I felt an overpowering emotion, like a wave of fear mixed with extreme awe."

"Tell me about it." Michael exclaimed, "When I saw him lift Brad with one hand, I was like 'GASP'!"

"Not like that," Rebecca shot back irritably, "I think I should confess. I did actually see these guys before, about two weeks ago."

A stunned look spread across the faces of her friends, but they quickly morphed into disbelief.

"What?" Amanda snorted.

"Get real!" Michael cacked.

"In case you weren't paying attention, R," Noah corrected in his usual patronizing tone, "They only arrived yesterday. You have not seen him before. He said so himself that he wasn't stalking you."

"And you'd be so gullible as to believe him?" Rebecca retorted, starting to feel annoyed with her boyfriend's lack of forethought, "Two weeks ago I saw him within the very school."

"And when was this? During your hunt for the bigfoot? Or was it while you were having a tea break with Santa Clause and the Mad Hatter?" Noah grinned at the others while twirling his finger at the side of his head, making the 'psycho' gesture.

"No." Rebecca hissed through gritted teeth. She could feel her temper rising critically and was on the verge of slapping Noah's face, "He and that Rico kid were chasing some sort of robot bird around with guns, as if they were trying to kill it."

Noah stared at her, but not in amazement or disbelief, but with an enormous dopey grin on his face.

"What the hell?" he squeaked, desperately trying not to break out laughing, "That is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! I would have expected that sort of thing from Wilder, maybe even Mr Shepherd, but you? Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do!"

At that moment, Rebecca was feeling an uncontrollable rage welling up from inside her. She was so angry that none of her closest friends would take her seriously for what was traumatizing her for all this time. She could almost feel the anger, surging from her core and rushing to every molecule of her body. She could swear a purple flash swept across her vision for a fraction of a second as she desperately tried to control herself.

Rebecca drew her arm back and prepared to slap Noah's face so hard it would sent his penetrating grin across the room, but stopped when she suddenly heard DJ's office door swing open.

"Thank you so much for applying for a position here." DJ's voice can be heard drifting from the direction of her office before slowly emerging from the room and into the main headquarters area, her head turned backwards and speaking to an invisible face who was still out of sight within her office, "We were getting a bit desperate what with the lack of staff."

"Thank you for letting us on." a faint voice wafted from the small room, so faint that it was almost inaudible. "I have always wanted to work for a great writing company like this. Journalism has been my passion, you know.

DJ slowly meandered into the centre of the room and attracted the attention of her devoted journalists.

"Alright guys, listen up." DJ called as she addressed the five teenagers who were all still sitting motionless at their desks. "I've got a special announcement to make."

"Has Mr Shepherd finally got the balls to ask you to give him his stapler back?" said Noah, thinking that he was on a roll, but not getting a laugh out of anybody.

DJ looked at him for a moment, expressionless, then continued.

"As you know, we have been decreasing in potential journalists ever since that incident with Wilder and that computer virus that knocked the power out of the whole building."

Wilder looked sheepish, gave a slight smile and buried his face into one of his filthy draws.

"But fortunately, a few new students have volunteered to join us."

Repeating the actions of the previous day, the five junior journalists all exchanged looks.

"And I bet you are all wondering who they are, you might know them from your media classes."

The young reporters all nodded in anticipation, all except one.

Rebecca solemnly closed her eyes and lowered her head, biting her tongue in anxiety. Judging by recent events, she knew exactly who DJ was just interviewing.

Who else was to enter the room but...

"G'day!" John Silas called cheerfully as he stepped into the main office, beaming in his usual friendly, sunny manner. His blue eyes beaming with happiness from under his dark fringe.

Rico, Jack and Tim were right behind him, all smiling and waving as if they were greeting old friends.

Rebecca slowly raised her head and forced herself to smile, or was it more of a grimace? She swiftly glanced at Noah, who was also uncertain of John's presence, but was still evidently happy to see him, as he was grinning like a lunatic on ecstasy.

"Okay, you four," DJ started to cheerfully address the newcomers, "There are four new desks that we have had moved into the room, so you can get started on your sample articles in order to show me that you are up to this sort of stuff, as well as think of a title for your section of the magazine. I'll also let you get to know your new colleagues while you work. I hope you enjoy your new position here."

She then cast her gaze over the now "classic Buzz veterans" Wilder, Rebecca, Michael, Noah and Amanda, "And I hope you all make your new co-workers feel at home. Typie, typie!"

DJ then turned and made her way back to her office to make a call to "The Boss Man" regarding the employment of the new employees. John, Jack, Tim and Rico instantly began to make themselves at home, settling into their new workstation. Rico positioned himself right next to Wilder, who greeted him with a broad smile. Jack and Tim floated around for a little bit before settling themselves on either side of Michael. John stood in the centre of the room for a few moments, surveying his friends with still eyes, like a general checking his troops to see if they are in line. He then sat down in the only vacant workstation left; Right in front Rebecca's so they were left facing each other.

"Hey! I'm 'da Wild-Man!" Wilder exclaimed in his usual awe-struckified manner as he held out his dirty hand for Rico to shake, "Guess we'll be workin' together, huh?"

Rico reached out and full-heartedly shook Wilder's hand, he then allowed a pained grimace to spread across his face.

"Do you mind if I stand up for a sec?" he asked.

"Why's that?" Wilder replied, a slight look of offence starting to spread on his own face, "Did I forget to use that deodorant stuff again?"

"No, no. I think I just sat on a half-eaten egg and ham sandwich."

Rico stood up, peeling a flattened sandwich from his seat. "Yep, I was right." he muttered in disgust.

"Oh, that's mine!" Wilder grabbed what was left of his lunch and started stuffing it into his mouth, "Sorry, but I can't finish a whole sandwich without making my workstation feel like home."

"Don't worry. I feel like that all the time!" Rico replied cheerfully. He produced a bag of chips and ripped it open, spilling shards of salty crisps everywhere.

"Now you're talkin'!" Wilder shouted, completely forgetting about his article.

"G'Day!" Tim greeted Michael as he took his seat near his workstation.

"Hello." Jack drawled in a deep voice as he sat down on the opposite side.

Michael smiled politely and uttered a little "Hi" of his own.

The three sat in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"So, what do you write about?" Tim asked, trying to keep a conversation going.

Michael looked up, "I'm in charge of celebrity gossip." he said meekly.

"Really?" Tim exclaimed, breaking into a smile, "I was gonna go for that, but changed my mind and decided to go for nerdy fan-gossip instead. Never mind, I still came prepared."

He reached into a small bag which each new member brought in and pulled out a picture of Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift and placed it on the head of his table, much to Michael's amazement.

"GASP!" Michael shouted, his mood suddenly uplifting, "You're a Clarkson fan too? I've been mad about her for years!"

"Yeah! I love her music!" Tim grinned back (while secretly crossing his fingers under his desk) "But you seem really dedicated to even get hold of her in person. Didn't you once stay on the phone for days on end just to try and resume an interview with her?"

"YEAAH!" Michael was getting more excited, happy that he was finally finding someone like him, "I would have gotten it too if it weren't for that stupid Pizza Patrol jacket. I'll tell you about that later since it's such a long story. But what about Taylor Swift? Are you a fan of her too?"

"Um, that would be me." Jack smiled and raised his hand slowly, like a kid who was found guilty in class for a whoopee cushion incident. "But ya gotta admit, she is pretty hot. I'd wonder if she'd like a good stretch inside?"

"Oooooh yeah!" Tim hissed through gritted teeth and made thrusting gestures with his waist, "Yeah, I bet she'd like to be BANGED up the slammer!"

"Yeah, I bet she fuckin' would!" Rico called from the other side of the room, much to the amusement of Michael, Amanda and Wilder.

"I think I'm going to like you guys." Michael grinned as he looked at Jack and Tim, who both smiled in return.

John sat down at his desk and started rummaging around in his bag. He pulled out various implements and placed them on the table in front of him. A glue stick, a pair of scissors, a stapler, a laptop, pens and pencils, a Doctor Who mug for the pens and pencils, an MP3 player, a Nintendo DS, a small, plastic Godzilla figurine, an autographed picture of James Rolfe and Adrian Edmondson and various other items, whether useful for writing or not, as well as a number of desk decorations.

Rebecca watched him the whole time, examining his every move, just to make sure that he was serious with what he was doing.

She watched him pull a small, but long wooden frame from his bag and placed it towards the back of his desk. She then saw him reach into a different bag, which was the long, black bag John had slung over his shoulder the day before. He then pulled his now legendary sword from the bag, and placed it in the centre of the frame. John then wheeled his chair back a little bit to admire it.

"Perfect." he whispered to himself.

As soon as he caught sight of John's mighty weapon, Noah was over like a bolt, instantly putting on a friendly face.

"Hey! How're ya doin?" he asked eagerly as he approached.

"Oh, hi!" John asked in surprise as he lifted his head to meet Noah's gaze. "Your name's Noah, right?"

"Yep, that's right." Noah replied, "I just came over to say thank you for helping me out with Brad yesterday."

"Hey, don't thank me. It was nothing." John gushed modestly.

"Nothing? You kicked his ass like Bruce Lee!"

"Oh, it was no trouble. I've had a lot worse down at my end of the globe. Have you ever heard of this guy called Marcus Evans? Now Brad is a pussycat compared to him..."

"Yeah, well," Noah interrupted, "What about that sword there? Is that legal?"

"Yeah, Yeah. I have a license for it. It's a real beauty, isn't it, mate? It's one of me most prized possessions."

"Rather." Noah gazed at the long, sharp instrument of death with clouded eyes for a second before realizing what he had to say next.

"Oh, and another thing. I am terribly sorry for ever doubting you yesterday. It's just that Rebecca's been in a retarded mood for the last two weeks and goin' a bit crazy and it's starting to bother me. She said that she's seen you before and I thought you were trying some funny business. But after you saved my ass by kicking Brad's, I now see you're a pretty cool guy. You're alright."

"That's okay, and thank you." John acknowledged both of Noah's points in one sentence, and smiling all the way, "But it's really nothing, it's the least I could do."

After a little bit more conversation, Noah finally went back to his desk and John went back to sorting out his desk. Rebecca hadn't taken her eyes off them for the whole time.

"Who are you?" Rebecca finally asked John, locking her eyes with him.

John turned to face her an almost blank expression on his face, "I'm John." he replied with almost a surprised but amused tone, "Have you forgotten already?"

Rebecca was surprised at how lightly John was taking in her suspicious behavior. So serious, yet sunny and friendly. He was almost like two separate entities merged into the one being. The way John said it also told Rebecca something else. He knows that she is suspicious of him. They came face to face only two weeks ago.

"I know you were here before." she pressed herself on, "Two weeks ago. I saw you and Rico running around the building with that...that...thing. And you know that I saw you."

John instantly leant back in his chair and threw his arms up in the air. "Okay, I give in." he sighed in an exasperated tone, "Rico and I were hunting down a creature known as a Gigan. They are cybernetic creatures from another world if you must know. One had somehow made it to Earth and was hiding in the school."

Rico, Jack and Tim were all staring at John as he said this. Rebecca looked at him too, mouth open in surprise that John gave up with hiding himself so quickly.

"Really?" she asked him.

"Nah, not really." John replied, leaning forward again and allowing a big smile to spread across his face, "We were making a sci-fi movie. Rico and I were the dashing young heroes and Tim was wearing the alien costume. Isn't that right, Timmy?" he called across the room to his cousin.

"Sure was!" Tim shouted back. He cupped his hands around his mouth and made a shrieking noise, reminding Rebecca of that scary incident a fortnight ago.

"Yeah." John turned back to Rebecca, "We're going to stick it up on Gleetube when we're done."

"But how did you get into the school? It was locked." Rebecca was still trying to weasel him out.

"Oh, we here to get out lockers sorted out and to meet the teachers and all that crap. They also let us stay behind after hours to shoot the movie. Don't worry, they were able to trust us with the keys."

Rebecca took a deep breath. This next question was going to be a delicate one.

"When I arrived, you said you knew me." she spoke slowly and quietly, still not taking her soft brown eyes off John's bright blue ones, "How?"

"Oh, that!" John exclaimed, still smiling. "I never said I knew you, I just thought I recognized you. I was mistaken, of course. It's just that on my flight from Australia, there was a girl sitting on the other side of the plane with a similar face to yours. I thought you might have been her." He leant forward and studied her face more closely, "But now on closer examination, she was a little shorter than you, and her hair was lighter and more messy."

Rebecca stared at John for a few seconds. John stared right back at her, his playful gaze begging her to believe him. Rebecca almost saw a slight twinge of purple surge amongst the blue of his left eye for a split second. Should she believe him? He had provided a concise and detailed explanation if virtually everything that had been pestering her. It would be best if she took his word. On the other hand, he still had that air of emotion around him, as if there was another side to him. Even as they sat there staring at each other Rebecca felt that strange sensation spread throughout her being again, almost as if her insides were burning and freezing at the same time.

"Well, if you say so." Rebecca reluctantly took her eyes off John's and resumed her work.

"Don't mention it." John smiled, then began writing up his first ever article, "Now what should I call this thing? How about 'The Buzz saw'?"

"What the fuck were you doing, Johnny?" Tim hissed at his cousin, "You nearly gave the whole game away!"

"Look, I'm sorry if I may have given out too much information, but it's not as if these normal people are going to believe us, is it?" John replied rather calmly.

It had been many hours since the gang had settled into their new positions at Buzz. The final school bell had gone and everybody in the building (teachers included) had all left in a hurry to begin their process of relaxation all over again. John, Tim, Rico and Jack were all crowding around a small, steel table positioned in a dark room. It was impossible to see where this room was except for a small light glowing dimly in the middle of the table. A faint humming noise could be heard coming from somewhere in the walls, broken only by this apparent argument between the four boys.

"You said yourself that we needed to do this thing, right?" Tim continued, "But you had to go and beat the shit out of that bully, then practically spill the beans in front of Rebecca..."

"He didn't tell her everything." Rico stepped in to defend his friend, "She saw the whole Gigan attack anyway. She's a clever girl. It's not as if we can hide this stuff from her."

"And about Brad," John continued, "He was threatening Noah. Such a confrontation could cripple him, and that may have a negative effect on Rebecca."

"Oi! Don't I get a say in this?" Jack broke in.

"Shut up!" Tim, John and Rico all shouted at him.

"Fine, fuck you then." Jack simpered and left the room.

Everyone else watched him go.

"He'll be back." Rico reassured himself and everyone else.

"Why are you concerned so much with Rebecca anyway?" Tim returned his attention to John, "You said so yourself that we shouldn't expect to befriend anyone, which I might add we had no trouble doing this afternoon."

"Firstly, that happened by pure chance. But there was also a chance that they could tell us to piss off. Secondly, Rebecca is absolutely vital to our plans here, so we need to make sure she is in top physical and emotional wellbeing, as well as her friends. Lastly, do you think we should worry if we subdue a Gigan in front of ONE civilian? Or would you rather let it run amok and let it kill dozens of bystanders? Look, you have all done a wonderful job with this whole operation so far. We have managed to secure ourselves positions at Team Buzz headquarters and have gained the trust of everyone in charge. If we just work together then we may pull this off before it's too late. We've already lost a lot of time due to Rico's shenanigans."

Rico looked sheepish at this. "Sorry. But once you've done Scarlett you cannot go back!"

"What do you mean? All you did was hold hands!" Tim turned onto Rico.

"Well, I'm getting there." Rico replied.

"Yes, but come on." John tried to rally his allies, "Let's do this not just as comrades, but as friends. I'm sure we could pull off this operation."

Suddenly there was a clang in the distance.

"Aw, shit." Jack's voice could be heard, "It's loose again."

Jack sighed and pulled a pistol from a holster on the wall, "Here we go again."

Tim snatched up a long cudgel-type stick and held it at his side, "That bloody thing's never satisfied."

"Yeah." John smiled, pulling his sword from the sheath on his back, "Just like old times."

Author's note: Sorry for such a long wait for an update. It's just that I have been hit with a combination of homework, friend and family issues and a severe case of writer's block. I'm lucky to find any time to even think about this stuff. And sorry for such a boring chapter. I know nothing really happens but I wanted to develop the new characters a little but more and let there be a basic relationship with at least a few pf the latest buzz veterans.

In case you're wondering, when it comes to identifying when the story is set, it takes place in between the events of the stand up issue and the hip hop issue, and major events are going to take place after that point.

I would also like to thank all of my subscribers for being so patient. I'm quite surprised that you all like me! Especially considering I'm fairly new at this sort of thing. Thank you for all the support you've given me so far, it's one of the few things that keep me going! Oh, and this sounds a bit lame, but if one of the actors from the show happen to read this, I'd love to know of what you think so far.

Let's hope the next one won't be so far away!

Peace out!


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